1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an open or closed sanitary fill valve assembly for the rapid and efficient dispensing or otherwise filling of containers, vessels or the like with a viscous flowable material. The novel open or closed fill valve assembly includes an adjustable product flow regulator for regulating the rate of flow of the viscous flowable material into a dispensing chamber of the fill valve assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Container filling machines are used in sanitary filling operations for dispensing in food product container packaging lines to quickly fill large numbers of containers. The efficient and reliable operation of the filling valves of these filling machines is critical to the process. Historically, the rapid and exact economical filling of containers has been an object of a large number of devices. Container filling machines have evolved over the years from simple mechanisms to complex devices, yet with many features evolving and improving over time.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,281 to Byrd et al. discloses an apparatus for filling containers comprising a housing having a chamber, an inlet conduit, and a nozzle for dispensing the liquid, a control valve spool sealed within the chamber for vertical movement therein, a drive mechanism for the driving spool, and a mechanically-driven piston assembly for varying the amount of product dispensed into the containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,343 to Cavallaro discloses a controllable liquid dispensing system including a material control device comprising a piston and a screw which is rotated to longitudinally displace the piston toward a dispensing chamber to create a vacuum therein and permit a predetermined amount of liquid to flow into the chamber.
Heretofore, none of the sanitary fill valves are effective in providing rapid and efficient dispensing of precise amounts of viscous flowable material into a container. Specifically, none of the sanitary fill valves disclosed in the prior art provides for an open or closed or ON/OFF valve with an adjustable regulation of the flow rate of a flowable viscous material at a point between the inlet channel and the valve chamber. Moreover, none of the sanitary fill valves disclose an adjustable regulator that adjusts the flow rate in relation to physical characteristics such as density, pump pressure, viscosity, compressibility, etc. of the viscous flowable materials. The fill valves of the prior art also permit turbulent flow of the viscous flowable material once inside the valve chamber which results in splashing and/or bubble formation during dispensation. Furthermore, the fill valves of the prior art facilitate effective cleaning-in-place of the outlet or discharge area during a dispensing operation.